Service business owners ask me how to write a marketing plan all the time. If you’re not paying a consultant to do it for you, it’s difficult to know where to start. (And no, that’s not a pitch. Because I’m about to teach you how to do it.) The...

Avatar, ideal client, target market, persona…you’ve probably heard these terms and more for your key client. Marketing blogs the world over implore you to imagine this person down to the colour of their socks. That can seem an impossible task. Sure, you...

I know you. You pride yourself on doing things the right way, the ethical way, the efficient way. You know exactly what your competitors do wrong and avoid their pitfalls. You focus on providing real value to your clients – whether or not that means a...

This post is the first in a new series I call Screw Advertising. These posts are especially for entrepreneurs with service businesses. Service marketing is different from product marketing – you know that, and I know that (hell, I run a...

Do you have a marketing strategy? Most people don’t. Small business owners generally skip that step, leaving the strategic work to big-name corporations. Then one day they look around and go “Is this all there is?” When that happens, it’s easy...

Strategy confuses people, because it’s not something you can touch. For a lot of businesses, “strategy” sits in a binder somewhere until the calendar notification comes up to do a new one. The binder makes it tangible, a real thing you can point to....